Staff hurt as Yemen's Houthi rebels bombard cancer clinic in Taez
Two other healthcare centres in the south-western city were also hit by weapons fire, MSF says
Iran-backed Houthi rebels attacked a cancer treatment centre in Yemen’s south-west Taez province on Saturday, wounding staff members. Two other health facilities in Taez were also targeted, according to a statement by Doctors without Borders (MSF), who condemned the targeting of “civilian infrastructure, including hospitals”.
“Patients were relocated to lower and more blast-protected areas of the facilities,” according to Craig Kenzie, MSF Taez City Project Co-ordinator, who released a statement on the attack.
Mr Kenzie reported that some patients were moved to a Swedish medical facility, also supported by MSF, “not knowing that it would be hit in the next hours”.
Ali Sarhan, manager of the Human Rights Office in Taez, told The National that the rebels used a mix of mortars and heavy weapons.
“They targeted the cancer facility … with two mortar shells followed by a barrage of Shilka-23 bullets, which were fired over residential neighbourhoods in central Taez,” Mr Sarhan said.
The Shilka is a Soviet-era anti-aircraft weapon capable of firing as many as 4,000 large-calibre bullets per minute. MSF also reported that shelling had hit the nearby Al Jomhouri hospital, injuring two civilians, in attacks that lasted all morning.
Dozens of patients, including children, who were receiving treatment at the cancer centre were evacuated, Mr Sarhan said.
“[The clinic] suffered extensive damage and had only just re-opened its doors in February following a similar Houthi attack in 2015.”
Taez is Yemen’s third-largest city and was once known as the country’s capital of culture. It has suffered extensively in the six-year conflict sparked by the Houthi take-over of the capital.
Isolated by a decrepit road network and rugged, mountainous terrain, vital services have been impacted by the destruction of transport infrastructure.
The cancer clinic is run by a non-profit organisation funded through donations and provides patients with therapeutic and social support, its head, Dr Mukhtar Al Mikhlafi, told The National.
“Targeting the hospital in such a manner is a disaster and a big violation for the rights of 8,500 cancer patients who regularly visit the facility,” he said.
“We call on all the warring parties to shoulder their responsibilities to protect the centre and call upon the UN, its special envoy to Yemen, the World Health Organisation and international human rights organisations to protect the cancer patients,” he added.
The attack on the cancer centre in Taez came days after similar Houthi attacks targeted health facilities in Hodeidah, amid a recent escalation despite a UN-brokered ceasefire.
On October 11, two civilians were killed and dozens were injured when Houthi rebels attacked healthcare centre in Al Duraihimi, eastern Hodeidah.
Previously, another health centre in Al Hawak district was targeted the Houthis, only days after its maintenance work was completed.
The Yemeni war has caused what the UN describes as the world’s worst humanitarian crisis and hit the health sector hard. There have been outbreaks of infectious diseases, including cholera, and widespread malnutrition and hunger, while treatment for long-term illnesses such as cancer are hard to come by.
